Strawberry Salad With Zesty Honey Mustard Dressing

This strawberry salad recipe features an eclectic mix of ingredients, like strawberries, mandarin oranges, pistachios, cranberries, and crumbled feta. I pair it with a honey mustard dressing, which is bursting with zesty citrus flavor to perfectly complement this scrumptious salad.

Close-up of strawberry salad.

This strawberry spinach salad recipe makes me smile. It’s filled with flavor, texture, and refreshing ingredients. You’ve got fresh strawberries, fresh mandarin orange, fresh avocado, and fresh greens, which we pair with dried cranberries, pistachios, and crumbled feta. Yeah, when I said the ingredients were eclectic, I wasn’t kidding. But trust me, they work so well together. One bite and you’ll know exactly what I mean!

Then we have the strawberry salad dressing. While honey and Dijon mustard are the stars of the show, there’s also a lot of citrus flavor from lemon zest, lemon juice, mandarin orange juice, and mandarin orange zest. Add some olive oil and salt to balance out the zestiness and you have yourself such a refreshing dressing. 

This is such a quick and easy strawberry salad to make. All you have to do is toss the salad ingredients together, quickly blend the dressing ingredients together (which takes about 15 seconds), and combine the two. Your salad will be ready in about 10 minutes. I’ve included serving suggestions below, as well as substitutions and variations to make this recipe work for you and with what you have on hand.

Perfect for a summer barbecue, potluck, or picnic, I hope you enjoy this strawberry spinach salad recipe.

Ingredients for strawberry salad.

Recipe Ingredients

Salad

  • Mixed spring green lettuce or fresh spinach
  • Fresh strawberries
  • Mandarin oranges
  • Dried cranberries
  • Pistachios (or nuts of your choice)
  • Crumbled feta cheese (or whichever cheese you like)
  • Sliced avocado (optional)

Dressing

  • Vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
  • Mandarin orange zest
  • Juice from oranges
  • Lemon zest
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Honey
  • Dijon mustard
  • Salt

How to Make Strawberry Salad With Honey Mustard Dressing

Add fresh greens to salad bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce…

Add strawberries to salad bowl.

Sliced strawberries…

Add mandarin oranges to salad bowl.

Orange sections…

Add avocado to salad bowl.

Avocado slices (if using)…

Add dried cranberries to salad bowl.

Dried cranberries…

Add pistachios to salad bowl.

Pistachios…

Add crumbled feta to salad bowl.

And the crumbled feta.

Toss strawberry salad ingredients together.

Toss these ingredients together.

If you like, save some to top it off at the end if you are serving it to guests.

Add orange juice to blender.

Now, we make the salad dressing. In a food processor or blender, we’re going to add the orange juice…

Add orange zest to blender.

Mandarin orange zest…

Add lemon zest to blender.

Lemon zest…

Add lemon juice to blender.

Lemon juice…

Add honey to blender.

Honey…

Add mustard to blender.

Dijon mustard…

Add salt to blender.

And salt.

Blend strawberry salad dressing ingredients until combined.

Blend. 

Add oil to blender while pulsing.

Then add in the oil while pulsing in the processor or blender until well combined.

This should only take 10-15 seconds or so.

Pour dressing over strawberry salad.

Add the dressing to the tossed salad ingredients, but you may not need it all. 

Toss strawberry salad again.

And toss again.

Before serving, top strawberry salad with more ingredients or dressing.

Before serving, add more dressing and scatter strawberry slices, orange slices, and avocado on top and sprinkle a bit more feta and nuts if desired to make a beautiful salad to serve.

Bowl of strawberry salad.

That certainly looks like a beautiful bowl of strawberry salad to me.

Storage

Store leftover salad covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. But just know it will get soggy because of the dressing, so if you can, store them separately and then combine them just before serving.

Recipe Notes

Here are some substitutions and variations to make this easy summer strawberry salad recipe work for you:

  • Substitute the chopped pistachios for another nut, like candied pecans, walnuts, or sliced almonds.
  • Use goat cheese or blue cheese instead of feta cheese.
  • Substitute the Dijon mustard for wholegrain mustard.
  • Substitute the honey for maple syrup.
  • Add a teaspoon of poppy seeds to the dressing to make a poppy seed dressing (a popular addition to a strawberry salad).
  • As mentioned, I use olive oil in the salad dressing.
  • Want to add more fruit? Opt for about a cup of chopped Granny Smith apples, blueberries, or kiwi.
  • On the other hand, want to add more vegetables? Add 1 cup of alfalfa sprouts, a thinly sliced red onion, or a cup of chopped cucumber.
  • Substitute the lemon juice for apple cider vinegar to make a honey mustard vinaigrette. 

Recipe FAQs

How do you serve a strawberry salad?

This strawberry salad pairs well with meat like grilled chicken, shrimp, or salmon. Add some crusty bread or quinoa, pasta, or farro and you have a complete main dish.

Check out these other refreshing summer salads:

Fresh Summer Salads with Simply Dressed Dressing

Summer Corn Salad

Greek Cucumber Salad

Recipe for Caprese Salad with Chicken and Avocado

3 Bean Salad With Dressing

Low-Carb Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Bowl of strawberry salad.

Strawberry Salad With Honey Mustard Dressing

My strawberry salad recipe features strawberries, mandarin oranges, pistachios, cranberries, and crumbled feta paired with a zesty honey mustard dressing.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: dressing, salad, strawberries, strawberry
Servings: 6

Ingredients

Strawberry Salad

  • 10 ounces mixed spring green lettuce or fresh spinach
  • 1 pound strawberries, thinly sliced
  • 4 peeled mandarin oranges (separate the segments)
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 3/4 cup pistachios (or nuts of your choice), shelled and coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cup crumbled feta or whichever cheese you like
  • sliced avocado, optional

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp mandarin orange zest
  • 2-4 tbsp juice from oranges
  • 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Combine the lettuce, strawberries, orange sections, avocado, and dried cranberries in a large bowl. Toss these ingredients together.
    10 ounces mixed spring green lettuce or fresh spinach, 1 pound strawberries, thinly sliced, 4 peeled mandarin oranges (separate the segments), 3/4 cup dried cranberries, sliced avocado, optional
  • Salad Dressing: Add all of the ingredients listed except for the oil in a food processor or blender and blend. Then add in the oil while pulsing the processor or blender until well combined (should only need to do this for 10-15 seconds or so).
    1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 tsp mandarin orange zest, 2-4 tbsp juice from oranges, 1/2 tsp lemon zest, 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp salt
  • Add the dressing to the tossed salad ingredients (you may not need it all) and toss again.
  • Before serving scatter strawberry slices, orange slices, and avocado on top and sprinkle a bit more feta and nuts if desired to make a beautiful salad to serve.
    3/4 cup pistachios (or nuts of your choice), shelled and coarsely chopped, 3/4 cup crumbled feta or whichever cheese you like

Video

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

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